Parent Involvement & Title I

Decatur Public School District 61 (DPS61) is committed to providing quality education for every child in its district. Our students, parents, staff, administration, Board of Education and the community are working together to ensure that we provide the best educational environment possible for all our district’s stakeholders. Everyone gains when the school, home and community work together to promote high achievement for our children. Neither home nor school can do the job alone. Parents play an extremely important role as their children’s first teachers. Their support for their children and for the school is critical to their children’s success every step along the way.

Resources:

SAMPLE Parent Involvement Compact

SAMPLE Parent Title I Meeting

Steven’s Amendment Memo

Expenditure Checklist for Family and Community Event

Part I: District Expectations

Decatur Public School District 61 (DPS61) agrees to implement the following requirements:

DPS 61 will provide programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents in all of its schools with Title I programs. These programs will be planned and implemented with meaningful consultation of parents of participating children.

DPS 61 will work with its schools to ensure that the required school level Parental Involvement Policy and Procedures meet Title I requirements and include, as a component, a school-parent compact.

DPS 61 will incorporate this district-wide Parental Involvement Policy and Procedures into its district plan.

In carrying out Title I parental involvement requirements, to the extent practicable, DPS 61 and its school will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with children with limited English proficiency parents with children with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports in an understandable and uniform format and, including alternate formats upon request in a language parents understand.

If the DPS 61 Title I plan is not satisfactory to the parents of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when it is submitted for review or audit as designated by ISBE.

DPS 61 will involve parents of children served by Title I schools in decisions about how the one percent of Title I funds reserved for parental involvement is spent and will ensure that not less than 95 percent of that one percent goes directly to the schools as long as the district’s Title I allocation is greater than $500,000.

DPS 61 will inform parents and parent organizations of each Title I school of the existence of the Parent Resource Center and the role and responsibilities of the Director of Student Services.

Part II: Required Components

DPS 61 will take the following actions to involve parents in the joint development/revision of its district Parent Involvement Policy and Procedures:

Establish a district-wide parental advisory group, Talk, Listen and Collaborate (TLC), comprised of parents with children who attend Title I schools and receive Title I services; and, conduct regular meetings of the parent advisory group;

Develop and implement procedures for the TLC advisory group;

Annually review, and when deemed necessary, revise the district wide parental involvement policy and procedure at TLC meetings;

Publish the district’s Parental Involvement Policy and Procedures on the district website, www.dps61.org; send print copies to all parents of Title I schools; provide copies at all Title I schools and at the Student Services Center as well as at other district venues;

Annually review the Parental Involvement Policy and Procedures at each Title I school;

Provide direction and access for parents to comment on the Parental Involvement Policy and Procedures on the district website, at all Title I schools, at the

Student Services Center and through public participation at school board meetings; and

Annually present the Parental Involvement Policy and Procedures to the Board of Education and in televised format on Channel 22.

DPS 61 will involve parents in the joint development of the district Title I plan and its review through school improvement activities in the following manner:

Present, review and seek input for the Title I plan at an annual meeting of parents, community members and district staff;

Present, review, and seek input for the Title I Plan at TLC parent advisory meetings;

Send annual notification home about each Title I school’s School Report Card and make copies available for parents at each Title I school, on the DPS 61 website, and through the office of the Director of Research;.

Send notification home through US Mail about each school that has been identified in School Improvement Status and provide direction and access for parents to learn about school improvement status and how they may be involved in school improvement activities; and utilize web-based notification when possible:

When applicable, notify parents through US Mail of their right the participate in Choice and Supplemental Educational services (SES); and utilize web-based notification when possible;

Consult with parents about the Title I plan, the School Improvement Plan or the District Improvement Plan through annual review at each Title I school, at TLC meetings, and in school improvement meetings; also, consult the School Support Team appointed to advise restructuring plans.

Seek out parental involvement resources, workshops and programs to train staff how to actively engage parents in schools and educational activities;

Provide a centralized location at the Student Services Center for parents to find information about schools, the district, ways to become involved in their children’s education, and any other support services that strengthen the relationships among schools, homes, and community.

DPS 61 will provide the following necessary coordination, technical assistance, and other support to assist Title I schools in planning and implementing effective parental involvement activities to improve student achievement and school performance as follows:

Provide coordination between the Director of Student Services, the Director of Special Programs, and the Director of research for optimum communication and services to staff and parents;

Conduct regular classroom and school walk throughs by administrative staff to observe parental involvement during the school day;

Schedule administrative staff to regularly attend school functions outside the regular school day;

Send staff and parents to excellent parent and community involvement workshops and conferences;

Conduct district-wide in-service for staff, parents, and community members on the planning and implementation of strong parental involvement programs and activities; schedule in-service and training at flexible times to accommodate working parents whenever possible;

Implement activities by the School Support Team to support and advise schools in School Improvement Status.

DPS 61 will build the schools’ and parents’ capacity for strong parental involvement, in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved, parents, and the community to improve student academic achievement, through the following activities:

The school district will, with assistance of its Title I schools, provide assistance to parents of children served by the school district or school, as appropriate, in understanding the following: the state’s academic content standards; student academic achievement standards; state and local assessments including alternative assessments; the requirements of Title I; how to monitor their child’s progress; and, how to work with educators through activities including, but not limited to, those listed below:

Annual Open House

A minimum of two parent-teacher conferences per year in Title I schools

Student-led conferences in 7-8 middle schools

Annual notification through US Mail of School Report Card and when applicable, of School Improvement Status, Choice, and Supplemental Educational Services (SES)

Parent curriculum guides for grades K-8

TLC meetings

Board of Education meetings, televised on Channel 22

School and classroom newsletters

Parent Liaison activities

Activities provided through Project Success of Macon County

The school district will, with the assistance of its Title I schools, provide materials and training to help parents work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster involvement through activities such as, but not limited to, those listed below:

School and classroom newsletters

Parent curriculum guides for grades K-8

Home Tutor training

Computer classes

School-based workshops and parent meetings

Activities provided through Project Success of Macon County

The school district will, with the assistance of Title I schools and parents, educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff in how to reach out and communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, in the usefulness of contributions of parents, and how to implement and coordinate parent programs and build ties between parents and schools through activities including, but not limited to, the following:

Sending staff members to local, state and national workshops and conferences that focus on parental involvement, diversity, and communication skills

When possible, send staff and parents together for training in parental involvement, diversity, and communication skills

Collaboration with local and state agencies that provide programs for parents and families

The school district will integrate parental involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Even Start, Baby Talk and public preschools and other programs and conduct other activities such as developing the Student Services Center and supporting the work of the Drop Out Prevention Program to encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children through activities including, but not limited to, the following:

TLC meetings, with ex officio members from groups such as Head Start, Even Start and Project Success of Macon County

Assigning district staff as liaisons with specific community agencies

Regular meetings involving the Director of Students Services and the Director of Special Programs

The school district will ensure that Title I information related to the school and Parent programs, meetings and other activities is sent to the parents of participating children in an understandable and uniform format, including alternative formats upon request; and to the extent practicable, in a language parents can understand through activities including, but not limited to the following:

Development of a criteria check list for district publications to parents

Coordination with Special Education and the district’s English Language Learner (ELL) representative

DPS 61 will take the following actions to conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parental involvement policy to improve the quality of its Title I schools. The evaluation will include identification of barriers that hinder parental participation and break down information with particular attention to parents, who are economically disadvantaged, disabled, have limited literacy, have limited English proficiency, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background. The school district will use its findings about parental involvement policies and activities to design strategies for more effective parent involvement, and to revise, if necessary, and — with the involvement of parents — its parental involvement policies.

Annual evaluation meeting with TLC, the district’s parent advisory group

District-wide evaluation conducted by the Director of Research, sent to every parent

DPS 61 will involve parents in the decisions regarding how funds are reserved for parental involvement activities.

Task of TLC, district parent advisory group

Part III: Discretionary Components

In addition to required components, DPS 61 will include the following activities to support and develop parental involvement:

Establish the goal of achieving 30% parental involvement in all Title I schools;

Pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;

Train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;

Arrange school meetings at a variety of times and conduct teacher-parent conferences at agreed-upon alternate sites when possible to maximize parental involvement;

Copies of the completed policy and procedure document are available at each Title I school, at DPS Student Services, at www.dps61.org, and by calling 217.362.3060.

DPS Departments

Page Navigation

Parent Involvement & Title I